3 major industries feeling the burn of hemp products

When you think of hemp products, you probably think of chunky, burlap bags and not much else, but with farming laws changing hemp just might send entire industrial sectors up in smoke. Jimmy Rhoades has the top three industries that are, or soon will feel the burn.

1. Building Materials

The healthiest building material out there is called Hempcrete. Sustainable designer Joni Lane says it has key advantages over traditional fillers. It’s essentially mold resistant and fireproof!

2. Plastic

The next industry that might get baked by the bud is plastics – except biodegradable plastics that won't destroy the planet. What’s a good test of hemp composite's performance attributes? How about a skateboard that is 22 inches long and 6 inches wide and is entirely made out of industrial hemp and bio-resin? Greg Osusky and Dave Blanchard run Granny Smith Sports, which uses industrial hemp in all its boards. The flex has a very lifelike response, very similar to a standard skateboard, with amazing pop, but the durability is unmatched by other skateboards.

3. Superconducting Material

Graphene is a layer of graphite that's only a single atom thick, with properties that promise huge advances in everything from batteries to touchscreens. Clarkson University professor David Mitlin says you can make an even better superconducting material using hemp. The material, though quite different from graphene for a supercapacitor, perform identically, if not perhaps a little bit better. So how does that affect you? It could mean faster-charging batteries and more densely packed computer chips… all completely biodegradable.

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